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Location:
6425 Jefferson Rd. For
directions, click here.
Jerry
Varnado,
pastor February
10, 2002 Last
week, we talked about God's
omnipotence, that He is El
Shaddai -- God
almighty. The
prefix "omni" simply means "all."
To say that God is omnipotent
means He has all potency, all
power. 9-The
God
Who
Fills
Heaven
and
Earth Look
with me at Jeremiah
10:12: Also
consider John 1:1-3: Through
him all things were made;
without him nothing was made
that has been made. Now,
if you purchase a product and you
can't figure out how to use it,
what's the first thing you should
do? Read the owner's manual! The
manufacturer, the one who made
it, knows all about how the
things put together and how it's
supposed to work. And he's
written down all that information
in a book. In
the same way, if life isn't
working, if we can't figure out
how to make it operate, we need
to look at the "owner's manual."
We need to consult information
supplied by the one who designed
and manufactured us and the world
around us. That,
of course, is God. He created the
universe; He created all life on
this planet, including the human
race. He knows all about us; He
knows all about the world we live
in. He knows how everything thing
is supposed work -- and, yes,
He's written it all down in a
book! If
you still can't get life to work,
there's is a toll-free number
where you can get help:
1-800-PRAY. And the really neat
thing is God doesn't have a
secretary; there's no voice mail
or answering machine. He handles
all calls personally -- and the
line is never busy. So
God, as the designer and
manufacturer of humanity and all
of creation, has a lot of
knowledge &endash; indeed
infinite knowledge &endash; about
you and me and the world in which
we live. But having knowledge,
even all knowledge, doesn't fully
express what we mean when we say
God is "omniscient." Look
again at Jeremiah
10:12: The
foundation of the world is rooted
in God's wisdom. His wisdom is at
the center of the way things
work. Let's
unpack this a bit more. By
definition, "knowledge" is having
certain facts or information
available to the intellect.
Having knowledge can be good or
bad. We have this saying, "He has
just enough knowledge to be
dangerous." You ever heard that?
A little knowledge can be a
dangerous thing, particularly if
"little" means
incomplete. We
are finite creatures; we have so
many limitations. We don't know
everything; we still have a lot
to learn. In fact, we have a hard
time correctly handling the
knowledge we do have. But God has
all knowledge; it is complete and
total. By
the way, it is critical that we
know and accept this premise
concerning God. The basis of most
of the trouble we experience in
life can be traced to the fact
that somewhere we or others who
lives affect ours did not trust
that God's knowledge was
total. Wasn't
that true with Adam and Eve? Eve
told the serpent: "We may eat
fruit from the trees in the
garden, but God did say, 'You
must not eat fruit from the tree
that is in the middle of the
garden, and you must not touch
it, or you will die'" (Genesis
3:2). Now, if she and Adam had
trusted God's omniscience they
wouldn't have eaten the
fruit. And
the same is true today, isn't it?
The common argument for a lot of
sin in the world today is that
the Bible is "outmoded." Trying
to rationalize sin, people acts
as though God's knowledge doesn't
extend to our time and place --
"things are different today,"
they say. We're more
"enlightened" than people were in
times past. Our
culture puts a lot emphasis on
knowledge. But it is wisdom,
rather than knowledge, that's
really the critical ingredient to
successful living. Wisdom
is sometimes equated with
knowledge, and they are related,
but wisdom is different. Look at
its meaning: It
seems to me that wisdom involves
the appropriate, constructive
application of knowledge. Wisdom
is having or showing keen
discernment, sound judgment, and
farsightedness. It is the ability
to discern truth and
error. God
has all the information in the
universe, total knowledge, at His
disposal -- but He also has the
perfect wisdom to use that
knowledge correctly and
appropriately all the time.
I've
already alluded to this, but I
need to say something more about
the fact that the Bible speaks of
two kinds of wisdom: the wisdom
of God and the wisdom of the
world or man's wisdom. Often the
two are in conflict. Look
at Isaiah 55:8-9: The
New Testament also makes it clear
that God's wisdom is far
different that the wisdom of this
world, specifically as regards
the cross of Jesus Christ. Here's
1 Corinthians 1:18-25: Where
is the wise man? Where is the
scholar? Where is the
philosopher of this age? Has
not God made foolish the
wisdom of the
world? For
since in the wisdom of God the
world through its wisdom did
not know him, God was pleased
through the foolishness of
what was preached to save
those who believe. Jews
demand miraculous signs and
Greeks look for wisdom, but we
preach Christ crucified: a
stumbling block to Jews and
foolishness to Gentiles, but
to those whom God has called,
both Jews and Greeks, Christ
the power of God and the
wisdom of God. For
the foolishness of God is
wiser than man's wisdom, and
the weakness of God is
stronger than man's
strength. As
for the Greeks, the cross was
foolishness. They fashioned
themselves as intellectuals. They
were thinkers and philosophers.
They took great pride in the
human intellect and human wisdom.
What they believed had to be
carefully reasoned; it had to be
logical and
reasonable. But
at the very root Christianity is
the irrational, unreasonable,
unbelievable idea that the God
who created the universe became a
human being in the person of
Jesus of Nazareth. If
that's not hard enough to explain
to a rational person, what about
the cross? How do we explain
redemption in "rational,"
"reasonable" terms? Suppose
someone comes to me suffering
with great guilt over things he
or she has done. This person has
never heard the gospel and knows
nothing about who Jesus is or
what Father did through
Him. I
would say to him or her: "You're
right, you've been a real jerk.
You've sinned -- and you deserve
death and hell. But I've got some
real good news for you.
"Two-thousand
years ago, an unmarried Jewish
teenager, while she was still a
virgin, gave birth to the God who
has no beginning. He grew up as a
carpenter but when he was 30 He
turned to itinerant preaching.
Three years later the religious
leaders in his country had him
executed for
blasphemy. "Three
days later He rose from the dead
and after a time ascended into
heaven to become the Lord of
creation. His death is full
payment for all the sins of this
world -- and all who will believe
this incredible story and turn
away from sin and follow this
Jesus, can know God personally,
have abundant life on this earth,
and will live forever in heaven
after they die." My
friends, everything I just said
is true, but it is not a rational
appeal to a person's reason. It
is an invitation to believe and
receive what God has
revealed, as irrational
and unbelievable as it
sounds. This
is the way God. In His wisdom, He
has offered salvation from the
perils of sin and death. One can
accept God's wisdom and receive
salvation -- or reject God's
wisdom in favor of their own
wisdom, and suffer the
consequences, both here in this
world and later in hell.
I
have one more quick point to
make. Look with me at what the
Apostle Paul wrote in Romans
16:25-27. He's calling the Church
to give glory to God. Our
God is "the only wise God"; He is
the only source of true wisdom
that will stand the test of any
circumstance. And
you know what makes that fact
even better? He offers His wisdom
to us -- to us --
without limit or condition.
According to James 1:5, all we
have to do is ask and receive.
The
great preacher Peter Lord once
said that to live out New
Testament Christianity, one has
to be able to hear from God.
Well, if we ask Him in faith, God
has promised to speak to us, and
to give us wisdom not of this
world. And
that's just what we need to live
life the way God intended us to
live. Our
God is the only wise
God.
Gateway
Church gathers
for worship
Sundays
at 10:30 a.m.
(Hwy. 129) in Athens,
Georgia.
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of the
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A
GATEWAY SERMON
The
only wise God
(Eighth
in the series, Knowing
God)
Gateway
Church,
Athens GA
Today we will focus our
attention on another area where
God has it all: He is omniscient
-- all knowing. One pretty good
clue that God is omniscient is
that He is the creator of the
entire universe.
In
this
series
God
made the earth by his power;
he founded the world by his
wisdom and stretched out the
heavens by his
understanding.
In
the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God, and
the Word was God. He was with
God in the beginning.
The
designer of the
product
Beyond
knowledgeGod
made the earth by his power;
he founded the world by his
wisdom and
stretched out the heavens by
his understanding.
Whady'a
know?
How
wisdom differs from
knowledge1.
Understanding of what is true,
right, or lasting; insight; 2.
Common sense; good judgment;
3. The sum of scholarly
learning through the ages.
Wise teachings of the ancient
sages; 4. A wise outlook,
plan, or course of
action
Wisdom
and foolishness"For
my thoughts are not your
thoughts, neither are your
ways my ways," declares the
LORD. "As the heavens are
higher than the earth, so are
my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your
thoughts."
For
the message of the cross is
foolishness to those who are
perishing, but to us who are
being saved it is the power of
God. For it is written: "I
will destroy the wisdom of the
wise; the intelligence of the
intelligent I will frustrate."
(Isaiah
29:14)
Why was the cross was a stumbling
block to the Jews? They had
already made up their mind that
Messiah would be a conquering
king sent by God to reestablish
Israel as a political power in
the world. A crucified messiah
was simply a contradiction in
terms. Rejecting God's wisdom for
their own, they missed their
long-awaited messiah.
The
irrational truth
Ours
for the askingNow
to him who is able to
establish you by my gospel and
the proclamation of Jesus
Christ, according to the
revelation of the mystery
hidden for long ages past, but
now revealed and made known
through the prophetic writings
by the command of the eternal
God, so that all nations might
believe and obey him -- to
the only wise God be
glory forever through Jesus
Christ! Amen.
If
any of you lacks wisdom; he
should ask God, who gives
generously to all without
finding fault, and it will be
given to him.
An
audio tape of this sermon is
available
free of charge (U.S. requests
only).
Request
a tape by calling
or writing the Gateway Church
office.
Please specify tape number
020210a: The Only Wise
God.
©
2002 Gerald R.
Varnado